Questions & Answers Wk 09
Every week Team GoNorth! answers ten questions related to the module topic from student explorers -- so stay tuned and submit YOUR questions!
It takes a different amount of time for each trip, and we never know exactly how long until we are done!
We make a rough estimate on how long each expedition will take and hope weather and other factors cooperate.
How long do you think this trip will take us? As you can see by looking at the Expedition Route, we are planning on traveling 1,000 miles during GoNorth! Fennoscandia 2008. The program runs from February 11 to May 16th. We arrived in Sweden on February 27th... What date do you think we will finish?
How long does it take to make one full trip?
Lorenzo
CPS WD M
6TH Grade
Chicago, Illinois
None of us have raced in the Iditarod. BUT, we do have friends who have done it.
Did you read the week 9 trail report and look at the week 9 photo journal? Sven Engholm in Karasjok, Norway has run in the Iditarod 6 times!
Did you ever race in the ididtirod?
Marie
Walt Disney Magnet School
6th Grade Grade
Chicago, Illinois
We have fallen though before. Do you want to know what happens next???
Let us imagine it is a very cold day and Paul falls all the way into the water... this is what Mille would do:
When one of the team members fall through the ice we of course first need to get them out. We carry 'throw ropes' on the sled - that is a bag with handle on one end and a long rope inside which stick out with a tied loop on the other end.
I would grab that bag, throw it to Paul, then throw the loop of the rope over the handle bar on the sled so that the bag is 'anchored.' This way Paul can pull himself in while I help by pulling on it, but it is safely attached to the sled. I will have to be careful not running to Paul and possibly all falling through the ice as well.
Once Paul is out of the open water, he will role around in the snow. The snow acts as a sponge, it sucks up or out the water. I will pull the bivy bag (the large bag with our sleeping bag system that travels on the very top of the load on the sled) off the sled, grab any warm water bottles and get Paul in the bag where he can is insulated from the weather and can get some heat from the warm water bottles. Then I set get the tent off the sled and set it up, immediately getting the small gas stove going inside of the tent so I can get Paul inside. If he is very cold I will lay next to him in the sleeping bag to warm him with my body heat. If he is getting warm from the stove and being in his sleeping bag, I would go outside and situate the dogs and get the camp ready for the night.
If we just get a 'wet leg or foot' for example - we do the same in that we put snow on it to get as much water as we can sucked out away from the skin, then we warm the foot i.e. with my body heat by him putting his foot on my belly - and then we pull out some dry clothing from the spares bag so we can continue traveling for the day!
Have you ever fallen through the ice?
logan
sibley east
fourth Grade
MN
The Polar Huskies are all very unique and have strong personalities. We all have different dogs we like to hang out with—or work with—for various reasons. And it tends to be that the older dogs are the ones we become really close with since we have traveled with them for so many years to so many amazing places. There are so many time the Polar Huskies have saved our lives, been our friends, and they are what makes all of this happen. They are simply just amazing animals for which we all have the greatest admiration.
Sometimes you appreciate the shy ones, and sometimes you just want to hear the howl of one of the “crazy” ones. When the terrain gets rough, you look to the strongest pullers, and when the route gets complicated, you turn to the leaders. Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses—just like people. So we can't really say which one is our favorite, because they all are. They are all important to the success of this expedition and to our survival on the trail. We love ALL of the Polar Huskies!
What is your favorite dog/puppy?
Sierra
Sibley East
3 Grade
MN.
The Polar Huskies are very important to the expedition. They do much more than just pull the sled.
They are the first to alert us to possible danger. They have wonderful abilities of sight, smell and touch and can sense danger often well before we can.
Our Lead dogs, for example, are very very smart and can detect changed in ice and snow conditions before we can. Just by how the ice feels under their paws! Sometimes, we think they are just being stubborn and not listening when they pull us off course. But it usually turns-out there is something they have noticed that we haven't, like a lead in the ice! And that is why they aren't doing something we are telling them to do.
They warn us of other animals. Good Thunder and Lightning learned from Retired Polar Husky Timber how to detect polar bears by smell and then alert us! Timber has warned us of many many bears over the years and in 2006 he taught Goodie and Lightning to do this too.
All the reindeer this year has been very exciting for the Polar Huskies too. The reindeer are able to camouflage themselves quite well in the snow and forests so sometimes we see them before the Polar Huskies... but don't worry. We always tell them so they don't miss-out on the excitement!
Other than pulling the sleds, do polar huskies help in other jobs?
Colin
Hancock Park Elementary
4 Grade
Los Angeles, California
When we are on the trail, we eat the food that we brought with us from the United States and the food that Mille's mom brought to us from Denmark.
When we are in communities or staying with people like Marta, we eat anything they make us. Did you read about all the yummy food we ate when we were staying with Marta in the week 6 and week 7 trail reports?
What do you eat?
sophia
hancock park
5 Grade
ca
Here is a list of birds and other animals that live in the Arctic regions. Mille's audio update from Thursday, April 10th also tells us about some of the birds they saw that day on the trail!
What kind of birds do they have in your location?
Anthony
CPS WDMS
4 Grade
Chicago, IL USA
The Polar Huskies had their first trainings in Northern Minnesota waaaay up near the Canadian border.
Since they were first put-in a harness for their first expedition.. for some this was as long-ago as 2001, for some this was as recently as GoNorth! Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 2006... they have traveled thousands and thousands of miles across the Arctic!
So the answer to your question is: very very far from where they were originally trained.
How far have they gotten from the original location from where they were trained?
jonathan
disney
6th grade Grade
4140 n marine drive
Thinking they would make her smile, Mille preferred the flowery ones, but had to settle on the black ones to get the rights size for liners to go inside!
Lots of questions about the 'Boot Picture' in the Trail Report this week!
Why don't you choose the black rain boots?
Which shoes did you pick in the end, Mille? The black shiny ones or the flower ones?
George & Alexandria
Hancock Park Elementary
4th grade Grade
Los Angeles, CA
